Love Circle
by KittyVogt
Summary: Erica likes Dan, Dan likes Zoe, Zoe likes Mike, Mike likes Zoe, Cate likes Mike, Cate likes Jack, Jack likes Erica, Erica likes Jack. Ha ha, very very confusing!
1. That kiss

Disclaimer- No, I don't own the characters or the show.

Dan sat alone at the bar, staring across the room. Staring at the love of his life, his best friend, and his closest confidante, Erica. Every so often, he was almost sure she'd take a small look at him, and with a slight grimace, go back to her in depth discussion with Jack. He knew what Jack was trying to do, trying to convince Erica to re-think the break up, to take Dan back and pretend everything was ok. But Dan doubted this would ever happen. He remembered the fire burning in Erica's eyes as she pushed him out the door, let out a final yell, and slammed the door in his face. Dan didn't know exactly what had pushed her to the edge. It could have been his dramatic mood changes, or his inability to open up to her anymore, or his decision to take up extra shifts at work. Whatever it had been, Erica was angry alright, and Dan doubted that she'd ever take him back. But Jack was adamant that Dan was just being negative, and so set about attempting to fix the broken relationship. And that was why Dan was sitting there, staring at Erica, wishing he could see just a glimmer of hope. Dan let out a heavy sigh. He knew he didn't deserve Erica, and if breaking up was the only way he'd be able to stop causing her so much pain, that was the way it was going to be.

'Dan, sitting over here alone really isn't doing you any good,' Zoe advised, taking a seat on the bar stool next to him.

Dan, who's chain of thought had been interrupted by Zoe, let out a deep sigh. He wasn't sure why Zoe had even come to have drinks with them, she seemed to constantly be working, and it was odd to see her away from the hospital. Dan really didn't appreciate the company, and attempted to ignore her Zoe shrug her off, but Zoe just didn't take the hint.

Zoe decided to break the awkward silence. 'I heard about Erica, I'm so sorry.'

'Great,' Dan thought, 'Another well wisher.' He really was very sick of sympathies.

'Yeah, well so am I,' Dan muttered, avoiding eye contact.

'She's crazy to let you go.'

'Erica obviously doesn't feel that way.'

'Isn't there anything you can do?'

'Erica's made it pretty clear there's not.'

'Anything I can do?'

'Not likely.'

That question had stumped Dan. How could Zoe help? Why was she even involved in his business? Surely she should have just kept her mouth shut and concentrated on fixing her own life. Because from what he had heard, she didn't have much of one.

However, before the thought could run long in Dan's mind, he noticed Zoe's hand placed firmly on his knee, and looking up to question what she was doing, he found himself being drawn into a passionate kiss. Although his first intention was to draw away, he found the lure of the kiss irresistible.

Across the room, Erica and Dan had halted their conversation, and were observing the kiss in amazement. They watched as Zoe eventually pulled away from the kiss, stood up and exited the room, with Dan following shortly after.

Erica felt physically sick. She had always thought that Dan would be the loser after their break up, and now he had already moved on with Zoe. And Zoe of all people? She certainly didn't have a great relationship history, and wasn't she a bit too old for him?

'I can't believe them!' Jack raged, his anger evident. Dan had been complaining to Jack only an hour ago about wanting Erica back, and he'd already moved on! And in front of Erica! 'That can't have been what it looked like.'

'What else could it be? Face it Jack, Dan doesn't need me!' Erica fumed as she paced over to the bar.

Following her, it hit Jack that Erica was still in love with Dan. She was jealous, and that's why she was so upset.

'He'll come round Erica,' comforted Jack, placing his arm around Erica and whispering into her ear, 'He'd be crazy not to.'

Out in the car park, Zoe turned around to witness Dan running across the road to catch up with her.

Continuing to walk, Zoe asked 'What's the matter Dan?' as he caught up to her.

'What's the matter?' Dan panted, tired after the sprint, 'Back there, you, you just…' Dan lowered his voice, 'You just kissed me!'

'Oh that,' said Zoe, not phased by the situation.

'How are you so calm about this?' asked Dan, confused.

'It was just a kiss! Come on, did you see Erica's face. She was so jealous!'

'What?'

'You didn't think I would seriously just kiss you like that did you?'

'It did seem odd.'

'Of course it did. Everyone knows the best way to win back an ex is to make them jealous. Erica will simply realise how important you are to her, and desperately try to get you back.'

'Oh, I see. Thankyou, I guess.'

And with that, Zoe said goodbye and hopped into her car leaving a still puzzled Dan alone in the car park.


	2. Idle gossip

At work the next morning, Jack was still reeling after the series of odd events.

'And so she just kissed him, right in front of you and Erica?' Cate asked in amazement.

'She sure did,' answered Jack. He had just spent the last five minutes explaining last night to Cate, and she was just as shocked and angry as Jack had been.

'Was Dan really into it?'

'By the looks of it. He followed her out of the bar.'

'Did you talk to Dan when you got home?'

'I tried. But he just kept telling me he didn't want to discuss it. He just won't listen to reason.'

'That's ridiculous. I can't believe Zoe! What a skank! Like she just took advantage of Dan and Erica breaking up so she could make a move on him.'

'She definitely has a lot of explaining to do.'

As Jack and Cate continued to gossip about Zoe and Dan, unbeknownst to them, Mike was listening into their conversation. He had been listening since the first mention of Zoe. Not sure why he was so fascinated by the idle gossip, Mike had slowly become more and more offended for Zoe's sake. He was sure she would never do something like that, he knew she was better than that. Or was she? No, he discouraged the negative thoughts in his head. He'd built up quite a strong opinion about who Zoe was, and he was not about to let anything or anyone spoil that opinion. Whether this was a good thing or not, he wasn't sure. As the words became more and more cruel, Mike felt compelled to protect Zoe. He had always been protective of Zoe, he felt like it was his duty to take care of her. She had no one else, he assumed, and therefore he had given himself the responsibility of defending her.

'As far as I'm concerned, Zoe destroyed their relationship,' growled Jack.

'Jack, do you really think you should be talking like that about your boss?' Mike asked, startling Jack. Mike was prepared to attack, and Jack was already well aware of this.

Jack prepared himself. It was most certainly not the first time he had argued with Mike, and he knew what it took to keep his head above water. 'Mike, this really doesn't concern you.'

'And it concerns you?'

'I was there, and I'm worried for Erica's sake. Who is the victim in this situation, not Zoe, as much as you love to think Zoe is always sweet and innocent.'

'Real chivalrous of you Jack. And where does telling all this to Cate come into the picture?

Jack knew what Mike was trying to do, trying to sew seeds of doubt over who was right and who was wrong. He directly avoided the question, instead trying to attack Mike's foundation, flipping the situation around.

'Mike, I saw them kiss with my own eyes, there is no other explanation for what I saw.'

'I know Zoe, she's better than that.'

'Well obviously you don't know Zoe as much as you think you do. Because she made a move on Dan, not the other way around.'

'You don't know that.'

Jack could see Mike's defence had already become very weak. The whole argument had been even easier to win than Jack had first thought. Zoe must have been a sore point for him. So Jack decided to twist the knife, use his new found power to pay Mike back for all the times he had preyed on Jack.

'Oh, I do. She had her hand on his lap first. And as much as you'd like to deny that in your head, it happened. She obviously cares less for you than you care for her. And Mike, jealousy is not a good look for you.'

And with that, Mike had been defeated. He muttered something inaudible under his breath, and walked away from the pair, his head hung low.

Cate, who had just been standing next to Jack in silent awe throughout the whole conversation, couldn't believe what she'd just seen. Why was Mike defending Zoe? From what she knew, they were just work mates. She wasn't jealous, or at least, she didn't think she was jealous. Mike and her had broken their relationship off over two months ago, so she didn't think she should still be so possessive of him.

'What was that all about?' Cate carefully asked Jack. She wanted to get as much information from Jack as possible, whilst still seeming collected. Jack was unaware of her relationship with Mike, and she intended to keep it that way.

'Weren't you listening? It was about Dan and Zoe!'

'No, I mean Mike. Why was he so defensive?'

'He always gets that way about Zoe. He has some virginal image in his head he won't let anyone disturb.'

'I didn't know Mike was close to Zoe.'

'Close to Zoe? He wishes! That's right, you were still off work when the whole sean/zoe/mike fiasco happened.'

'Well I heard about Sean and Zoe, but I didn't know Mike was involved.'

'Yeah, Mike asked Zoe out, before everyone knew about Sean, and she struggled to turn him down. So Sean started to get very jealous and told Mike that Zoe was off the market. I don't think Mike ever got over it.'

'He still loves her?'

'It's rather obvious from the way he acts. I think Zoe's basically the only person who hasn't noticed!'

Cate couldn't contain her jealousy for much longer. She just couldn't believe the whole time she had been dating Mike, he had been pining for Zoe.

'Why is everyone falling head over heels for that slut!' Cate exclaimed.

It was then that Jack noticed why Cate had been so curious about Mike's relationship with Zoe, she was jealous. He had no idea why, Mike wasn't exactly a 'prize catch' and Jack believed Cate could do much better. So he took on the same role he'd taken with Erica, that of the confidante.

'Cate, don't worry about him,' Jack comforted, 'He's not worth your time.'

'You don't understand!' snapped Cate, turning away from Jack and walking towards the door.

'Cate, come back! Mike would have to be crazy not to care about you!' Jack yelled, but he was too late, Cate had left.

As Jack was pondering why Cate could possibly be so worked up over Mike, he overheard the voice of the woman who had caused all this trouble, Zoe.

'There's no point calling up admin, they're not going to change a thing,' Zoe warned Frank as the two walked over to Jack.

'Well they bloody should,' Frank responded. He was very sick of the constant woes of admin, and found yelling at them across the phone a remarkable stress buster. So he excused himself, and went back to his office.

Zoe, rolling her eyes at Frank's response, began going over her paperwork at the bench.

'Good morning Jack,' Zoe said.

Jack couldn't help but be put off by her cheery greeting. Had she completely wiped her memory of the night before? He responded with a disapproving grunt, and went about checking over a patient's file.

Unimpressed, Zoe inquired if anything was wrong, and was once again met with a disapproving grunt.

'Do you have a problem with me, or work or what?' she asked, trying her best to be Jack's boss, as well as his friend. That was always difficult for her. She was good at being a boss, but lousy at being a friend. But she tried not to blame herself, instead she blamed her upbringing, her parents and everything else that had been wrong with her life.  
Jack, surprised by Zoe's clueless attitude, finally gave up the tough charade.

'I'd thought you of all people would know exactly what's wrong,' he answered.

Zoe was startled by Jack's scathing tone of voice. 'No, no, I don't think I do,' she said.

'Don't you even remember last night?'

'What? Oh, Oh my gosh! You think Dan and I…'

'I don't think, I saw.'

'No, not it's not like how it looked.'

'Oh really, because it certainly looked like you two were pretty close.'

'Yes, but that was just for Erica and Dan's sake.'

'You're not making much sense!'

'I only kissed Dan to make Erica jealous, so she'd realise how much she cares for him.'

This was a shock to Jack. Sure, things hadn't exactly worked out perfectly, now with Cate upset, as well as Erica. But Zoe had meant well, and Jack did feel regretful for saying those horrible thinks about her. He couldn't believe it, Mike actually had been right about Zoe, she couldn't do something so horrible. Perhaps Mike did know Zoe better than Jack had first thought.

'I didn't cause too much trouble, did I?' Zoe asked, 'I didn't really think about how anyone else would see it. I'm really sorry.'

'No, no. It's fine. I understand, you meant well.'

'Good, I'm glad that's all sorted out.'

'With me, yes. But I think you should sort it out with Mike as well,' Jack said mysteriously.

Before Zoe could question Jack's response his pager went off and he was whisked away to examine a patient.

Later that day, whilst she was sitting in her office, Jack's cryptic advice was still imprinted firmly in Zoe's mind. She just couldn't make sense of it. From what she knew, Mike and Erica weren't close, and nor where Mike and Dan. Mike hadn't even been there that night!

Mike who had entered the office unnoticed, cleared his throat to gain Zoe's attention. Startled, Zoe looked up at Mike, assuring herself she hadn't just been muttering out loud about the puzzling situation.

'Hey, have you seen Frank,' Mike asked casually.

'No, he went home about a half hour ago. Had some business to sort out,' replied Zoe.

'Oh, ok. It's not that important I guess.'

To this Zoe gave a little smile, and then went back to working her way through the pile of paperwork Frank had slammed on her desk.

'How's the paperwork?' asked Mike.

'Great,' Zoe replied sarcastically.

She could see that Mike was trying to make idle conversation, and as he took a seat across from her, it became clear that she was not going to be able to get rid of him easily. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy Mike's company, but he just had this habit of making her feel like his eyes were piercing through her, reading the thoughts in her head. And at this particular time, she was not in the mood for it. She was still worried about Dan and Erica, partly feeling she may have just made things worse. However, it soon occurred to her that it may be the perfect time to bring up Jack's little piece of advice. And so, assuring herself she hadn't done anything to make Mike angry with her, she asked, 'So, have you spoken to Jack lately?'

Mike, hearing Jack's name, quickly assumed Jack had told her about their fight. He wasn't sure why, Mike could just tell Zoe exactly what Jack had said about her, and then she sure would be angry with Jack! Nevertheless, he began covering his tracks.

'Yes, of course. Why?'

'He just said something rather interesting to me.'

'Oh really?'

'Look, just stop the charade Mike. I know you know exactly what I'm talking about.'

'Fine Zoe, I do. But our argument really shouldn't concern you. It wasn't a big deal, we argue all the time.'

'What? What argument?'

Zoe was puzzled by Mike's answer. Jack hadn't told her about any sort of argument, and she didn't think that was why Jack had advised her to sort things out with Mike.

'Jack didn't tell you about our argument?' Mike asked.

'No, should he have?'

'I guess not. But then what were you talking about?'

'When?'

'Just before!' snapped Mike. He was becoming more frustrated with the conversation as it progressed.

'Oh,' stuttered Zoe, shocked by Mike's anger, 'Jack, well he told me to sort something out with you.'

'Sort what out?'

'I think it was about last night.'

'What about last night?'

'I'm not sure. I think perhaps you make have found out I kissed Dan. And I think maybe I should just explain to you that I am in no way attracted to Dan. It was just a silly little kiss to try to make Erica jealous, and help her realise how much she loves Dan,' Zoe explained. She wasn't quite sure why she was explaining her actions to Mike, because from all she knew, he didn't even know about her and Dan. But, she felt compelled to, like that was what Jack had been trying to hint for her to do.

'Right Zoe. And why are you telling me this?' Mike asked bluntly.

'I just thought that it might have had some sort of connection to your argument.'

'No, it didn't at all. I don't care about what happened last night between you and Dan. Maybe you should remember this whole hospital does not revolve around you!'

And with that, Mike bit his tongue, realising just how horrible he had been to Zoe. Just looking at the expression on her face was enough to break his heart. She looked mortified, and deeply upset by Mike's harsh words.

'Zoe, I'm really sorry,' he apologised.

'It doesn't matter,' Zoe replied, her head buried in her paperwork.

'Ok, I'll just go now,' muttered Mike, leaving the room and kicking the wall next to the office in aggravation.


	3. Whining

The next morning at work, the situation hadn't improved between Mike and Zoe. The tension between the two was unbearable, and people had begun to notice. Frank had even noticed their inability to co-operate with each other, and was considering requesting that Zoe and Charlotte swap for the day.

However, before he was able to offer Zoe this option, he was interrupted by Erica storming into work late.

Gabrielle, who had been attempting to get onto Erica for just over half an hour, stopped her on her way in.

'Erica, you're 40 minutes late! And try answering your phone some time,' Gabrielle exclaimed.

Erica continued walking, dismissing Gabrielle, and passing by Jack, Frank and Zoe. As she did, Zoe caught Erica's attention.

'What's wrong Erica?' Zoe asked, concern evident in her voice.

However, Erica blatantly ignored Zoe, rushing off.

Jack, who had followed Erica, found her in the crew room, tears whelming in her eyes.

He walked over to her, wrapping one arm around her, using his other hand to cradle her head.

'He doesn't care about me anymore,' Erica whimpered.

'Of course he does,' comforted Jack.

'No, he doesn't. I went to see Dan this morning.'

'You did?'

'Yeah. That whole thing with Zoe, it just made me so jealous. Seeing him with her, it was horrible. I realised I could never stand to see him with someone else, because I'm still in love with him.'

'What happened?'

'I asked him if he wanted to give it another shot. And he said he didn't think it was worth another shot!'

'What?'

'He said it was the end of the road for us. I can't believe him!'

'How could he?'

'But it's not Dan's fault. That slut, she moved in on him. And now, now he loves her instead of me!'

'No, no Erica. That's not what happened. Zoe just kissed Dan to try to make you jealous so you would realise how much you love him.'

'She did?'

'Yeah, she told me.'

'That doesn't matter!' Erica replied, still furious over the situation, 'It wasn't her place to interfere. And I just know Dan wants to be with her, I can tell!'

Jack once again felt the anger in him rising. Erica was right, despite Zoe's 'best intentions' to get them back together, she actually split them up! Sure, he didn't know that for certain, but what other possibility could there be? First Dan was pining for Erica, and then, after Zoe kissed him, he couldn't care less about Erica.

'I'm going to go and have a little talk to Zoe,' Jack fumed, leaving Erica to find Zoe.

Back in the Emergency area, Zoe, Steve, Gabrielle and Charlotte were discussing Erica's behaviour when Jack stormed in.

Confronting Zoe, Jack hissed 'This is all your fault, you know!'

'Excuse me,' said Zoe, sick of the confusion of the past few days.

'Erica asked Dan to take her back, and guess what, he told her he wasn't interested in her anymore!'

'Really?'

'Yeah, and do you know why? Because he would rather be with you than her.'

'What? Did he say that?'

'No, not exactly. But it's obvious. He wanted to get back together with her, and then you kissed him, and everything changed.'

'Zoe, you kissed Dan?' interrupted Charlotte, shocked by the revelation.

'It's not how it seems! I was just trying to help him out, by making Erica jealous so she'd want him back,' Zoe explained.

'Great job that did!' exclaimed Jack.

'I was only trying to help.'

'You stupid slut, you've wrecked everything!'

Frank, who had overheard the argument, snapped at this remark. 'Jack, watch your tongue or I will send you home!'

Zoe used this opportunity to quickly escape the fight, rushing off to her office to continue her paperwork.

'She was only trying to help, Jack' said Steve, trying to cool the situation down.

'You don't know anything about this Steve!' snapped Jack.

'Jack, how many times do I have to tell you to keep your personal life out of the workplace,' Frank warned.

'You should be worried about Zoe's personal life interfering, not mine!'

For Jack the day had been rapidly declining. He had found it difficult to concentrate or commit himself to his work, Erica spent the whole day moping, only talking to a select few people, and Zoe spent the whole day in her office, much to the dismay of Frank.

That was why Jack had decided to pace the Hospital's garden. He wasn't usually a fan of natural remedies, but he found the fresh air helped to sooth his mind.

Before long Jack stumbled upon Cate, drinking coffee at a table. After checking she was alone, he approached her and took a seat.

'Feeling any better?' he asked sympathetically.

'A little,' replied Cate.

'That's good.'

'I heard about your little outburst at Zoe.'

'She deserved it. Do you know why she made a move on Dan?'

'Because she likes him?'

'No. Because she wanted to help him by making Erica jealous so she'd realise she was still in love with Dan. That certainly backfired!'

'How?'

'Dan doesn't want to get back together with Erica!'

'Why? Because he's in love with Zoe?'

'That's what I think. She just shouldn't have interfered. It was none of her business. Erica doesn't deserve this. She could do so much better.'

And Jack continued to drone on, repeating the same style of lines over and over again. How precious Erica is, how horrible this must be for her. Erica, Erica, Erica. Jack begun to realise the pattern. Why did this all have to be about Erica? Cate was going through a lot at the moment, he probably should have been sympathising with her over that. But he just couldn't stop talking about Erica! Perhaps he had feelings for Erica? Jack was quick to dismiss this thought. Dan had been his best friend for years and having feelings for his best friend's ex-girlfriend would be horrible. Then again, he was sure Dan had feelings for Zoe, who used to be Erica's friend.

Cate was still listening intently to Jack's whining. She hadn't noticed the constant theme of Erica, she had only noticed how kind and caring Jack was. Congratulating herself on developing feelings for Jack, a decent human being, and moving on from Mike and his messed-up life, Cate plucked up the courage to ask Jack out for a drink.

'Maybe we could catch up tonight after work and have a drink?' she asked.

'Yeah, sure,' answered Jack. He couldn't see the harm in having a drink with someone he considered a close friend. He most certainly did not pick up on the hints Cate was dropping.

Dan had only been at work for 20 minutes, and he already couldn't bare to be there much longer. Ever since he'd first walked in, he was met with angry faces staring at him, and then whispering amongst each other. He assumed Erica had made a scene and told everyone exactly what he had done to her. Sure, Dan felt guilty, and sad for poor Erica. But she did dump him in the first place, and he wasn't going to lie about his true feelings. What made the day even worse was for Dan was that Zoe had been missing all day. Apparently she had faired rather badly in the whole fiasco. So Dan decided to go to Zoe's office to see if she was ok. He was beginning to develop strong feelings for the attractive blonde, and Dan wanted to make sure she hadn't been hurt by the situation.

He found Zoe sitting quietly in her office, burrowing through her paperwork. Zoe noticed Dan before he even walked in. Having spent much of the day defending herself she was on edge and her senses were particularly in tune.

'Zoe, how are you?' Dan asked sympathetically.

'I'm fine. But look, Dan I'm so sorry. I've cause so much trouble. I've wrecked absolutely everything!'

'No, no, don't apologise. The relationship was over long before you came along.'

'Don't try to make this out to be anyone's fault but mine. Everyone else is blaming me, you should to.'

'Who's blaming you?'

'Oh, Erica and Jack mainly. But they have a right to blame me.'

'No they don't!' exclaimed Dan. How dare they blame Zoe for all of this? His fury at Jack and Erica consumed him. 'Don't worry,' Dan sympathised, 'I'm not exactly popular at work at the moment either.' He placed a hand protectively over Zoe's hand on the desk, giving her a comforting look.

It was then that Zoe finally realised Dan's intentions. The kiss hadn't just been a game to Dan, he had been consumed by it. Jack was right, she never believed him before, but he was right. Zoe was the reason Dan refused to take Erica back. This just made her feel so much worse. Why couldn't she have just kept out of the whole situation?

'Well, I need to get back to work,' Dan said.

'See you later,' said Zoe.

After Dan had left, she still couldn't shake the little moment they'd just shared. She'd be crazy to consider a relationship with Dan, wouldn't she?


	4. A Rose

Although she had been smitten with Jack during their previous conversation, at the bar that night, Cate had finally opened up her eyes and begun realising who Jack really was fascinated with. Erica this, Erica that. It seemed like everyone was head over heels in love, just not with Cate!

Poor Jack hadn't even noticed what he'd been doing to Cate. It was just that every single thing she said reminded him of Erica in someway.

'So, do you cook?' asked Cate, desperately trying to escape another 'hilarious' tale of Erica's adventures, and attempting to move onto a topic which had absolutely nothing to do with Erica.

'I'm ok, usually Dan and I just get take out. But do you know who does cook, very well?'

'Let me guess…' mumbled Cate. This was going to be a long night.

Dan was sitting at home, watching Grey's Anatomy with a big bucket of chocolate chip ice cream and a box of tissues, when he heard a knock on the door. Wiping the tears from his blood shot eyes, he yelled out 'Coming!', switched the TV on to CSI, hid the bucket of ice cream beside the lounge and moved the box of tissues onto the coffee table. When he finally opened the door he was shocked to see Erica, looking just as tired and teary as he did, holding on to a big box filled with little trinkets and letters. Dan knew exactly what Erica had done. She'd compiled every little thing that he had ever given her and everything that reminded her of him and their relationship, and now she was going to give it back to him, so he could sift through the broken pieces, knowing it was all his fault.

'Here,' Erica said coldly dumping the heavy box in Dan's awaiting arms, 'Bye.'

And with that Erica was off, pacing towards her car, glancing back at the life she once had.

Dan didn't have any other option as far as he was concerned. The box was just sitting there, waiting impatiently, drawing Dan into it. He knew very well it would probably make things worse. There was no point in dwelling on the past, he told himself. But, try as he might, he couldn't shake his longing to open the box.

Picking up the box once again, Dan tipped it upside down, pouring out the contents. A sea of memories, crashing to the floor. Photographs of their happiest times, secret notes left in each others' lockers, empty chocolate boxes from Valentines day. But it was one of the more inconspicuous objects that held the most dramatic piece. Opening a novel entitled 'Heart of Darkness' he found a single, pressed red rose. The first rose he'd ever given her. It was on their one week anniversary. He had been so excited he had rushed down to the florist conveniently located next to the hospital, and picked the loveliest rose he could find. He had waited out the front of the hospital for hours with anticipation, and when Erica finally finished her shift, he had rushed to give her the rose. It was the sweetest moment for the both of them. But now, Dan compared the dead rose to their dead relationship. The thought made him sick. He needed to end the ever flowing list of clichés and dramatic, emotional visual images. Dan knew he couldn't just sit there, alone, crying. Whenever he felt this down, he always called up Erica. But he'd ruined that. Now who could he call? Zoe was of course the first name to pop into his head. He knew she'd had a number of dramatic relationships in her life and therefore would be able to offer real help. Not to mention, he could feel a connection between them.

Before long he dialled her number, and Zoe, with greatest sympathy, agreed to come over to comfort him.

When she arrived at Dan's house, Zoe couldn't help but feel guilty. Sure, they hadn't done anything, yet. But Zoe knew as well as Dan did, exactly what would happen that night.

After a short greeting, Zoe and Dan settled down on the floor in front of the trinkets with a big bottle of heavy alcohol. They started picking through the pieces. It was easier for Dan now, with someone to go through it with. The whole situation became less like mourning the past, and more like looking forward towards the future.

'Reminds me of when Sean died,' said Zoe, flicking another photo on a pile.

'How so?'

'After he died, I went back to his place. Frank didn't want me to, he didn't want me to be alone. But I knew that was where I needed to be. I just sat there, staring. I looked at every single object in that house for at least five minutes.'

'Did it help?'

'Not at the time, no. It felt horrible. Such a waste. But after a while, yeah, I started to see that it had made a difference. It was just like saying goodbye.'

'I'm so sorry.'

'Dan, don't be sorry. I'm not. I used to be, but not anymore. It happened, sure. But Sean would have wanted all of us to be happy.'

'You're right. You're always right. It's amazing,' answered Dan, his speech slurred. He moved closer to Zoe.

'Not always,' argued Zoe, shuffling away from Dan.

'Always. You don't know how precious you are.'

And at that moment, Dan pulled Zoe over to him into a passionate embrace.

Back at the bar, Jack was still droning on, and Cate was attempting to escape the situation.

'Do you think Erica will ever be able to get over this?' Jack asked.

Cate couldn't take much more it. She lurched forward, grabbed her drink, gulped the rest down and got up to leave.

Jack, confused by Cate's impulsive actions, grabbed onto her arm, tugging her back into her seat.

'What's wrong?' he asked.

'Look, I can't keep pretending that this isn't all completely obvious. I don't care if I hurt your feelings anymore. You're in love with Erica.'

'What, how do you know?'

'You haven't stopped talking about her, and if I hear her name again, I swear I'll scream.'

'I'm so sorry.'

'Never mind. Just do yourself a favour, and tell her!'


	5. Regret

The next morning Jack arose early. He had gotten home from the bar very late, and when he came in he'd stumbled into his room in the dark, and spent the majority of what was left of the night thinking about what he was going to do about Erica. He couldn't keep it a secret, it was too obvious. He'd have to tell her, and hang his head in embarrassment.

When he walked into the kitchen to make himself a coffee, he passed the trinkets spewed out onto the lounge room floor. Jack recognised a few of the objects immediately. They were presents, from Dan to Erica. That was it, it was the end between those two. Could this mean the beginning for Jack and Erica?

Jack was still eating his rice bubbles an hour later when he was shocked to see a female silhouette in the shadows, slinking out of Dan's room. The woman tiptoed closer to the kitchen, on her way to the door. As soon as she stepped into the light Jack recognised her. It was Zoe, looking guilty as hell.

'Zoe!' Jack called out, determined to hear Zoe explain exactly why she was sneaking out of Dan's room at this hour.

Zoe jumped with surprise at hearing her name. She quickly turned around, and when she spied Jack, she knew the gig was up. She'd been caught, and there was no point running away now.

'Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you or anything. Just come over here,' beckoned Jack.

Zoe walked into the kitchen.

'Rice bubbles?' asked Jack, offering the box to Zoe.

'No thanks.'

'Fine then.'

'Ok.'

And then came the awkward silence. If Zoe listened close enough, she could swear she heard a cricket chirping in the background.

Jack broke the silence with a line which most probably made everything even more awkward. 'I'm really disappointed in you,' he said.

'What?!'

'How could you do this?'

'This is crazy. It was a one night stand! That's all. A big mistake. I'm sorry about it, but there's no way I'm apologising to you.'

Jack could tell this was really getting Zoe worked up. She seemed to really regret sleeping with Dan. He knew he shouldn't be judging Zoe, after all, he'd sure had his fair share of one night stands.

'Look, don't worry about it. I understand the feeling,' said Jack, filled with remorse over snapping at Zoe. He'd been doing that a lot lately, and he really had no right to.

'Thanks, but I have to get to work,' sighed Zoe.

Jack was certainly having a lazy morning. Spread out across a lounge, he was busily trying to block out all thoughts of Erica, when Dan wandered sleepily into the lounge room.

The first thing Jack noticed was the giant Cheshire-like grin plastered across Dan's face. It was such a contrast from the solemn, regretful frown Zoe had displayed earlier in the morning.

'Had a big night?' Jack asked curiously, directing the nod of his head in the direction of the trinkets still in a heap on the floor.

'Oh, that,' Dan said, scratching his head, 'Erica dropped by last night. Just gave me the box and left.'

'Well who else was here?'

'What? No one,' lied Dan, his face turning red. He was a terrible liar.

'So you drank all this on your own?' teased Jack. He held up the empty bottle of alcohol he'd found on the floor.

'It's possible, isn't it?'

'Not for you.'

'Damn it! I knew I should have thrown that thing straight into the bin,' cursed Dan. He flopped down on an old, worn out armchair across from Jack.

'Don't worry. That's not what did you in. I saw Zoe sneaking out this morning.'

'Oh really? Did she say anything about me or last night?'

'Nah, she had to get off to work,' lied Jack with all the skill of a practiced deceiver, 'What happened?'

'I knew you'd want all the details. Well, Erica dropped by that crap, so I started looking through it. But I felt so lonely and horrible, I just had to have someone there with me. And Zoe was the first person to come to mind. So she came over, and one thing just led to another!'

'Yeah? Think it was just a one timer?'

'No, I sort of think we have this connection. It's like, she's everything I've ever wanted. I think it could be love.'

'What, already?!'

'Maybe. I've known Zoe for a while, and she's amazing. She really cares for me.'

'Don't you think you're taking things a bit too…'

'A bit too what?'

'I don't know. Like maybe you're thinking too far forward.'

'Jack,' said Dan acidly, 'Just because you're fine with never settling down, doesn't mean I am.'

'You really think you and Zoe could actually be in a real relationship?'

'Yes I do.'


	6. Flaws

Work that day had been particularly slow, so Cate wandered through the ED to visit one of the few patients she'd brought in. On her way Cate encountered Erica in the reception area and decided to check if there had been any interaction between her and Jack since last night. Jack had looked like he was most definitely going to take Cate's advice and make a move, but Cate knew very well that Jack's nerves sometimes got the better of him.

'Seen Jack around?' she asked.

'Yeah, I think he went to pathology.'

'Oh, ok. He hasn't spoken to you about anything, has he?'

'I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific.'

'Like he hasn't made some sort of proposition?'

'No. At least, I don't think so.'

And with that, Cate decided to throw caution to the wind and hint very heavily to Erica exactly what Jack thinks about her.

'You know Jack's really nice.'

'Yeah.'

'He's so caring, such a great catch.'

'Are you interested in him?'

'No, no. He's not my type, I'm not his type, it would never work. But you, well you're his type, I think he's your type, and I think you two would be very good together. But you know, that's just my humble opinion.'

'Really?'

'Yes. Now, I'd better get around to visiting this patient,' said Cate.

After Cate had walked away, Erica was very curious about what Cate had said. She had a feeling Jack might possibly be interested in her, and therefore had told Cate to help him out. But was she being a little conceited?

Erica knew that there was only one way to found the truth. She had been bewildered by the prospect of Jack actually having feelings for her, but discovered she had actually already warmed to the idea. Jack had been a good friend to her for a few years now, and he had everything she liked in a guy.

So, later that day whilst she was examining a patient with Jack, she decided to make a move.

'Look, I really want to thank you for all the support you gave me when I was dealing with the whole break up thing.'

'It's not a problem. I enjoyed it.'

'What?'

'Sorry! I, that's not what I meant. I just think the whole thing sort of brought us closer together, in a weird way.'

'Yeah, you're right. It did.'

'Yeah. Um, you're not doing anything later tonight, are you?'

'Nope.'

'Did you want to go to dinner?' asked Jack shyly, hoping the answer wouldn't totally crush him.

'I'd love to,' Erica answered. So Jack really did like her, and they really could be happy together.

Whilst Erica and Jack were enjoying their newfound happiness with each other, Zoe was racked with guilt over spending the night with Dan. She couldn't believe she could have been so stupid!

When she had finished scolding herself for acting so rashly, Dan entered her office. His heart pounding in his chest, he looked lovingly at Zoe, catching her eye.

Zoe shivered, she felt horrible. Standing up, she made her way towards the door.

'I'm sorry Dan, I have a lot of patients to see.'

'What? It's practically empty out there! Is this about last night?'

'Last night was just a stupid mistake,' muttered Zoe, walking out into the corridor of the emergency department.

And with that, Dan's heart broke. She couldn't have meant it! She had been so caring towards him, picked him up when he was down. Now what was she doing? Destroying his life. He couldn't let her get away, so he followed her, not caring if everyone stared and he embarrassed himself in front of them.

Zoe kept walking, aware Dan was following her. It mirrored the night that they'd kissed, when he'd followed her through the car park.

'So what, last night meant nothing?' he yelled out to Zoe.

She didn't respond, so Jack yelled out again, 'I love you Zoe. I thought you felt that way too!'

As she watched everyone in the ED turn around to watch the spectacle taking place, Zoe felt this anger burning inside of her.

'I told you already, it was a mistake. It meant nothing! I am not in love with you!' she snapped.

Dan stopped dead in his tracks. He felt so used, so empty. He became conscious of the people staring at him, and watched with hatred as Zoe rushed off into the tea room.

Von, who had been watching the whole situation play out, walked over to Dan. She patted him on the back and said, 'It doesn't matter. You could do better.'

Mike had also been watching the fiasco on the sidelines. He had mixed emotions about the situation. He felt sorry for poor Zoe, but also annoyed about her behaviour. She wasn't perfect. But then again, he should never have thought about her in that way. Her little flaws made her even more attractive. Like her determination to always have the last word. There would be no fun if she was just a China doll. He'd have absolutely no one to have fun loving battles of words with. Well, there was Frank, but that wasn't exactly what Mike had in mind.

But, he was sure Zoe would never feel that way about him. He was too old for her, too messed up, too infuriating. He knew it would be for the best if he just moved on, found someone else.

So, he decided to take solace in Cate's care. Walking over to her, he asked if she'd like to go out for a drink that night, just to talk.

Cate knew exactly what was going on, and was not about to be made a fool of again.

'Mike, I know as well as you do that there's only one person you want to go out for a drink with. And it's not me,' she said.

It was like she'd just slapped Mike in the face. He realised Cate knew exactly where his heart lied. That was it. He decided to give up his pride, and head to the tea room.

He found Zoe in there, tears streaming down her face as she attempted to make herself a coffee. Mike walked over to her, and she looked up at him, fear and distress evident in her eyes.

'Hold up, you're not planning on slapping me again, are you?' he asked, referring to when he'd tried to help her after Sean had died.

She gave a rather desperate laugh, and flashed him the cute smile he'd fallen so in love with.

Zoe looked down at her coffee, and could see her tears falling into it.

'Oh, I've ruined the coffee!' she exclaimed with a laugh.

And with that, Mike delicately wiped the tears from her face, and drew her into the kiss they'd both been longing for for so long.


End file.
